For nearly 10 years, editors Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani have assembled an excellent anthology series of poetry by African writers called New-Generation African Poets. But unlike other geographically-based poetry anthologies, these don’t just present one or a couple poems by numerous poets. Instead, a handful each get their own 20 to 40 page chapbook in which to present their poetic vision. In the following email interview, Dawes and Abani discuss the newest installment, New-Generation African Poets: Tisa (boxed set).
Please note: All answers are from both Mr. Dawes and Mr. Abani.
Kwame Dawes, Chris Abani
For people who haven’t read any of the New-Generation African Poets collections, what is the idea behind them?
The idea behind this is quite simple. Both Kwame and I knew that the African poetry scene was, and had been for a long time, a space where exciting new voices were continuing in a long tradition and simultaneously breaking new ground. The problem? They were not being published and given exposure to a global audience we were sure would embrace them.
So, who came up with the idea for this series? And I don’t just mean the idea of doing a collection of modern African poetry, but of having individual chapbooks by different poets?
Everything we do is a natural progression of what has come before. This grew out of other interventions we have both been involved in.
And how do you decide what poets you’ll feature in one of these collections?
It is a simple process. We have developed a remarkable list of contacts across the continent — writers, arts organizers, professors, festival directors, and more — who we approach each year asking them if they have come across any promising poets. Over the years, as our list of published poets has grown, our greatest source of recommendations and suggestions come from poets who we have published again from across the continent.
Our team also does our own scouring of the internet for events, social media indicators, etc., to be on the look-out for promising writers.
Finally, as we are engaged in two major poetry prizes for African poets — The Sillerman first Book Prize and the Evaristo Prize for African Poets — we ask our judges and reviewers to tag any writer that shows great promise, and we add those to our long list of recommended poets. After we have made the call for recommendations, we then do what we can to see what the work of these poets looks like, and then compile a list of about to seventy to eighty poets for consideration. We approach these poets with a simple and brief remit: that they send us a chapbook manuscript of new and original work. Typically, we allow just two weeks as a deadline. We usually get between forty and sixty manuscripts. It is at this point that we, the editors, see the poetry, and when we do, it is through a blind review system. We blind read and make a final selection. We help the poets edit and revise their work and then take it from there. There is no application process. This is not a contest, and so we approach this as the curation of some of the most interesting work that we are seeing from African poets. As you can imagine, those manuscripts that do not make the list are often quite remarkable collections. The standard is extremely high, and our task is not easy.
contributors Phodiso Modirwa, Hazem Fahmy, Jakky Bankong-Obi
You’ve never had a poet be in more than one collection. Is that intentional?
These are boxsets that offer a one-off publication opportunity to a poet. We hope that this gives them a calling card and presence in the world that enables a career for them. We have later published several of the poets in our first book series as well as in our general book series, but again, blind submissions guide these decisions, and an even larger editorial board decide. We have published close to a hundred and twenty poets in this series, many who have gone on to forge impressive careers and publication records.
And who decides which poems will go in their individual books?
The manuscripts come completed already and fully conceptualized. We select books not poems.
Having read all of the previous volumes, I’ve noticed that almost all of the contributors employ free verse, as opposed to something rhyming or more structured. Is that also by design?
Formal concerns like this are not a consideration in modern poetry. I doubt working poets engage in these questions. We are guided by the work we get, and our poets write as modern poets.
All of the New-Generation African Poets collections have subtitles: Tano, Sita, and now Tisa. Is there a significance to these subtitles, or a reason you didn’t want to call these collections New-Generation African Poets 2022 and New-Generation African Poets 2023…
It is a box set of African poets. African languages should be employed where we can, no?
Finally, this series started with 2014’s Seven New Generation African Poets, and was renamed New-Generation African Poets with 2016’s Tatu. Is there anyone in New-Generation African Poets: Tisa who told you they were influenced by either someone in one of the earlier collections, or this series?
As you might imagine, poets read other poets and are influenced by other poets. This is what happens, and we are pleased that we can bring poetry by African poets to African poets as well as to readers of African poetry.
